The measurements were performed at the Swiss synchrotron radiation light source using a grating interferometric setup.
The non-destructive method allowed the same sample to be measured before and after cooking.
Heat denaturation resulted in a 36% decrease in the volume of the muscle fibers, while solubilization of the connective tissues increased the volume from 8.4%
to 24.9%. The cooking loss was quantified and separated into a water phase and a gel phase formed by the sarcoplasmic
proteins in the exudate. The results show that X-ray phase contrast tomography offers unique possibilities
in studies both the meat structure and the different meat component such as water, fat, connective tissue
and myofibrils in a qualitative and quantitative manner without prior sample preparation as isolation of single
muscle components, calibration or histology.